When he took the ice for Tuesday's morning skate at PPG Paints Arena, Matt Murray stood in what has traditionally been the starter's net, the goal closest to the Penguins' bench.
However, the first goaltender off the ice -- the tell-tale sign as to who will start -- was Casey DeSmith.
Hmm ... some gamesmanship from Mike Sullivan?
Maybe not. It's a Tuesday night game in October against a Western Conference opponent. But Sullivan did confirm that it will indeed be DeSmith in goal against the Canucks tonight, 7:08 p.m.
It had been assumed that Murray would get the nod after being medically cleared of a concussion sustained last Monday and serving as DeSmith's backup Saturday night in Montreal. However, Sullivan is clearly choosing to play the hotter hand, as DeSmith is 1-0-1 with a .935 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against average and helped the Penguins take three out of four points against the Golden Knights and Canadiens. And other than an 0-for-2 shootout performance Saturday, he was particularly sharp in making 37 saves.
"It's pretty impressive," Sullivan said of his backup while giving the starter a vote of confidence. "It doesn't take away that Matt is our No. 1 goalie. He's also coming off an injury. It's just, we felt it was the right decision at this particular time. It gives Matt a couple days to get some practice time and get some rest. But certainly Casey's performance in the last couple of games has been exceptional."
Murray has struggled in the early going, allowing 11 goals on 65 shots for an .831 save percentage and 5.47 GAA. Dating back to last spring's second-round playoff exit against the Capitals, Murray has allowed four or more goals in four of his last six games.
Following Tuesday's morning skate, Murray stayed on late to get in some extra work with Chad Ruhwedel and goaltending coach Mike Buckley:
With Zambonis waiting to go one the ice, Matt Murray getting in some late work with Ruhwedel. #penguins #dkps pic.twitter.com/5xj8y56ZMF
— Chris Bradford (@PghBradford) October 16, 2018
Sullivan said that bringing Murray back slowly from his latest injury could be beneficial. By serving as the backup, he can still get in some mental reps from the bench and get re-acclimated to game conditions up close.
"When you're backing up and on the bench and seeing the game up close, it's very different than when you're not dressed and you're up in the press box," he said. "It's a completely different game. The speed of the game. It's different and so we think that's it's part of the game return-to-play process and we think that helps any player."
It also presents an intriguing scenario if DeSmith fares well tonight against Vancouver. Would he play Thursday night in Toronto? If DeSmith fails, does Sullivan want to bring back Murray to face the red-hot Maple Leafs? It's one thing to start DeSmith against the Canucks, who are averaging 3.8 goals per game but will be without leading scorer Elias Petterson for the second straight game with a concussion. It's quite another to start him in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs are leading the NHL at 4.7 goals per game and have four of the league's top-five scorers in Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
Stay tuned.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Justin Schultz, defenseman, (fractured left leg) is out indefinitely.
• Canucks: Elias Pettersson, winger, (concussion), is out indefinitely. Jay Beagle, center, (broken arm), is out a month.
THE SKATE
• The Penguins and Canucks both had optional skates. All of the Penguins participated except for Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Patric Horqnvist, Jake Guentzel, Riley Sheahan, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin. The Canucks had only a handful out.
• Jamie Oleksiak will rejoin the lineup, judging by his being among the starters who came off the ice early. Pairings were still unclear -- they weren't shown in practice yesterday -- but he'll likely be paired with Olli Maatta. He reiterated that he took no issue with being scratched Saturday in Montreal: "It's all part of the job. You just have to adapt and be ready to play."
• Sullivan sounded impressed with Vancouver, comparing the Canucks favorably to the Canadiens: "They're another team that's young and that play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. They have a lot of young skill and they have some leadership, some of their guys have been in the league for a while and they're quality players. They've had a good start to their season to this point. We expect it to be hard game. It'll be a big challenge for us."
THE OTHER SIDE
For all the fuss over Pettersson, there's another kid on the Canucks who will play and who's already had one experience crushing the Penguins: Brock Boeser, a 21-year-old, 29-goal scorer as a rookie in 2017-18 (before a knee injury KO'd his final 20 games), blew a hat trick past Murray out in Vancouver last November. And he did so with some of the sweetest shooting anyone showed against the Penguins all winter long.
That didn't surprise another member of the 2015 NHL Draft class. Boeser was taken 23rd overall, Daniel Sprong 46th overall, and the two have more in common than that: They're both built on precision shooting.
"He's a great young player," Sprong was telling DKPittsburghSports.com this morning. "The way he shoots is a lot different than the way I shoot. He uses his whole body, his momentum. I use the whip of the flex, the stick, my forearms to shoot. It's maybe shorter. But his shot is very hard, very accurate. It's fun to watch how he hits his spots."
Sprong and Boeser got to know each other at the NHL's Scouting Combine before the draft.
"It's great to see him doing well," Sprong said. "It's fun to see that from my draft year. They say it's one of the best drafts in a long time, and it's cool to see guys like him living up to that. -- Dejan Kovacevic
THE COMBINATIONS
Neither team showed combinations at their skates, but here are the expected lines/pairings based on their most recent game or practice:
Brassard-Crosby-Guentzel
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Rust-Sheahan-Hornqvist
Simon-Cullen-Sprong
Dumoulin-Letang
Johnson-Riikola
Maatta-Oleksiak
Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser
Goldobin-Gaudette-Eriksson
Roussel-Sutter-Virtanen
Schaller-Granlund-Motte
Edler-Tanev
Hutton-Gudbranson
Pouliot-Stecher
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff today is at 7:08 p.m. The Penguins will practice tomorrow at noon in Cranberry, then travel to Toronto, where they will play the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Canucks, morning skate, PPG Paints Arena, Oct. 16, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS